A Piece of the Action (episode)
Returning to a planet last visited by a Earth ship 100 years ago, the Enterprise finds a planet that has based its culture on the gangsters of Earth's 1920s. Summary Teaser The arrives at Sigma Iotia II. This remote planet had been visited by the ''Horizon'' in 2168, before the establishment of the Prime Directive/"non-interference" directive. The Horizon was lost shortly after leaving Sigma Iotia II and Starfleet only managed to receive her radio reports nearly a century later, as the Horizon was only equipped with conventional radio. After planetfall, Uhura informs Kirk that she is in contact with an Iotian named Bela Okmyx who describes himself as "Boss". Okmyx invites Kirk to come down to the planet's surface saying that a "reception committee" will be waiting for him upon arrival. Since the Horizon s visit was before the Federation's Prime Directive against non-interference, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are concerned about what effects the Horizon s crew may have had on the Iotian culture which was just beginning industrialization at the time. The three beam down to find a culture resembling that of Chicago in the 1920s. They are greeted by two men dressed as gangsters who threaten them with Tommy guns. Act One The landing party surrenders its standard phasers and communicators and is asking questions of the gunmen when a drive-by shooting occurs. One of the gunmen is killed; the other refers to the "hit" being committed by someone named Krako. Kirk, Spock and McCoy are taken to Okmyx's office, where they learn that Okmyx is one of a dozen or so "Bosses" and that he has the largest territory in the world. The office contains a book published in 1992 titled Chicago Mobs of the Twenties. Okmyx informs them that the book was left by the Horizon, and the landing party correctly deduces that the entire Iotian culture has been formed by this book. Okmyx refers to the landing party as "Feds" and tells them he wants the Enterprise to furnish him with "heaters" so he can wipe out the other Bosses and take over the planet. Kirk refuses and Okmyx gives him just eight hours to provide the weapons or die. Act Two Okmyx has the landing party taken to a warehouse under guard. He then takes one of the confiscated communicators and contacts the Enterprise. He threatens to kill the landing party unless the ship provides him with one hundred phasers (which he calls "heaters") and troops to show him how to use them. In the warehouse the gunmen are playing cards while the landing party speculates about the future of the Iotian society. Spock insists that the society must become united or it will break down completely. Kirk feels that since a Federation vessel contaminated the culture, it’s the Enterprise s responsibility to put things right. He distracts the gunmen with a nonsensical and nonexistent card game called "Fizzbin" which he makes up on the spot, enabling the landing party to overpower the gunmen and escape. Kirk instructs Spock and McCoy to find the local radio station, contact the ship and have themselves beamed aboard. Kirk goes off by himself planning on abducting Okmyx and bringing him back to the Enterprise. He is promptly greeted by a new gunman and is forced to take a ride. Kirk is taken to the office of Jojo Krako, another boss who wants to be in control of the planet. Kirk again refuses to "come across with the heaters" and is confined to a small room. Spock and McCoy find the radio station where they manage to contact Lt. Uhura and return to the ship. Shortly after, Okmyx contacts the ship and informs Spock that Krako has kidnapped Kirk. He offers to assist in getting Kirk back if Spock and McCoy will return to his office. Using wire from a radio, Kirk rigs a trip line across the doorway and then calls for help. He knocks out two gunmen and escapes with a machine gun. Spock instructs Scott to set one of the ship's phaser banks to a strong stun setting. He and McCoy then beam down to Okmyx's office where they are again met by armed hoods. Act Three :"Ship's log, Mr. Spock reporting. Incredible as it seems, Dr. McCoy and I are once again prisoners of the chief criminal boss of a society patterned after old Earth gangsters." Okmyx again takes them prisoner, but Kirk arrives and turns the tables. Kirk and Spock dress in the clothes of two of Okmyx's henchmen, commandeer a car and set out to "put the bag" on Krako. They are assisted by a small boy who demands "a piece of the action" in exchange for creating a diversion. They break into Krako's headquarters and appear to be in control until Krako's men gain the upper hand. Act Four Kirk tells Krako that the Federation is taking over and arranges to have Krako beamed up to the Enterprise to show him what he's up against. They overpower Krako's men and head back to Okmyx's office where Kirk has Scott locate and transport the other Bosses including Krako. Krako's men try a hit on Okmyx's territory and a gunfight ensues in the street below. Kirk has the ship fire phasers on stun in the surrounding area to demonstrate the power of the "Feds". The mobsters are convinced and agree to Federation control with Okmyx as the top boss and Krako as his lieutenant. Back aboard ship, Spock has concerns about Kirk's solution of having the Federation take a 40% cut of the planet's annual "action". Kirk explains that the money will go back into the planetary treasury to help the Federation guide the Iotians into a more ethical society. McCoy is concerned because he seems to have left his communicator somewhere in Okmyx's office. Kirk and Spock speculate that with that kind of technology in the hands of the Iotians and with their gift for imitation, the Iotians may one day want a piece of the Federation's action. Memorable Quotes "Okay, you three, let's see you petrify." "Sir, would you mind explaining that statement, please?" "I want to see you turn to stone. Put your hands over your head, or you ain't going to have no head to put your hands over." : - Kalo and Spock "Well, those firearms are not necessary." "You trying to make trouble?" "Who, me?" "Don't give me those baby blue eyes." "What?" "I don't go for that innocent routine." : - McCoy and Kalo "I got the biggest territory in the world. You know, there is one thing wrong with having the biggest: there is always some punk trying to cut you out" : - Okmyx "On Beta Antares IV, they play a real game. It's a man's game, but of course it's probably a little beyond you. It requires intelligence—" "Listen, Kirk, I can play anything you can figure out. Take the cards, big man. Show us how it's played." "I'm familiar with the culture on Beta Antares. There aren't games—" "Spock. Spock. Of course, the cards on Beta Antares IV are different, but not too different. The name of the game is called fizzbin." :- Kirk, Kalo, Spock, and Kirk as he introduces fizzbin. "We're trying to help you, Okmyx." ''"Nobody helps nobody but himself." ''"Sir, you are employing a double negative." :- '''McCoy', Okmyx, and Spock "I got rights!" "You got nothin'! Now you mind your place, mister, or you'll... you'll be wearin' concrete galoshes." "''You mean cement overshoes?" "Uh... aye." : - Krako and Scott "I kind of like this. I'm going to get one myself." "Captain, you are an excellent starship commander, but as a taxi driver you leave much to be desired." "It was that bad?" : - Kirk and Spock, on his first attempt at driving a car "Out of the mouth of babes." "Who you callin' a babe?" "I'm callin' you a babe." "You callin' me a babe?" "I'm ca– I'm callin' you a babe, but it's nothing personal." : - Kirk and the Tough Kid "Daddy! Daddy! I hurt myself!" : - The Tough Kid, cuing Kirk and Spock, and getting his piece of the action "Must we?" "It's faster than walking." "But not as safe..." "Are you afraid of cars?" "Not at all. It's your driving that alarms me." "I've got the hang of it now." : - Spock and Kirk, before another try at an automobile "Comin' over there with a couple of my boys and... ''mother!" : - '''Tepo', after being beamed over to Okmyx's office "I'd advise youse to keep dialin', Okmyx." : - "Spocko" "All right, boys, the Federation's movin' in, we're takin' over. You play ball, we'll cut you in for a piece of the pie. If ya don't, you're out - ''all the way out, y'know what I mean?" : - '''Kirk' "Kirk -- Alright Bones, in the language of the planet: 'What's your beef?'" "McCoy -- ''Well I don't know how serious this is, Jim, and I don't know quite how to tell you..." "Kirk -- Go ahead." "McCoy -- Well, in all the confusion, I..." "Kirk -- Tell me." "McCoy -- I think I left it in Bela's office." "Kirk -- You left it?" "McCoy -- Somewhere, I'm not certain." "Kirk -- Your not certain of what?" "McCoy -- I left my communicator." "Kirk -- In Bela's office?" "Spock -- Captain, if the Iotians, who are a bright an imitative people, should take that communicator apart..." "Kirk -- They will, they will. They'll find out how the transtator works." "Spock -- The transtator is the basis for every important piece of equipment we have." "Kirk -- Everything. Everything." "McCoy -- You really think it's that serious?" "Kirk -- Serious? Serious, Bones? It upsets the whole percentage." "McCoy -- How do you mean?" "Kirk -- Well, in a few years, the Iotians may demand a piece of our action!" Background Production timeline * Series proposal, "Star Trek is...": - Mentions story idea "President Capone" * Story outline by David P. Harmon, * Teleplay by David P. Harmon, * Second draft teleplay by David P. Harmon, * First draft script, "Mission Into Chaos" involved the Romulans * Final draft teleplay by David P. Harmon and Gene L. Coon, * Filmed in early November 1967. Story and production * Gene Roddenberry jotted down the idea for this episode – a one-sentence synopsis titled "President Capone" – on the very first page of his very first Star Trek series proposal in 1964. * No stardate is actually logged in the episode. A stardate of 4598.0 appeared in Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance, apparently using an earlier script version, and the photonovel provides a closing stardate 4598.7. * The scene when Kirk puts his legs up to Krako's table and declares that now the Federation is "taking over the whole ball of wax" is reminiscent of a similar scene in 's classic gangster film, Little Caesar. * This is the only episode of TOS to end in a freeze-frame. Continuity ]] * The Star Trek Encyclopedia refer to the Horizon as the , , which was later seen as a model in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. * This is the only episode that Kirk calls McCoy by his full nickname: "sawbones". * This is also the only episode in which the ship's phasers are set to stun. In , Kirk has them set at 1/100th power. ]] * In a homage to this episode, a hard-bound copy of a book beginning with the title ''Chicago Gangs can be briefly glimpsed on a bookshelf in Travis Mayweather's quarters on board the in the Star Trek Enterprise episode . *This is the first episode in which a site-to-site transport is performed - although due to the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, it is not the first time from a historical perspective. Performers * George Takei (Sulu) does not appear in this episode. * This episode contains Walter Koenig's smallest speaking part in TOS, with only one line of dialog, "Approaching Sigma Iotia II, Captain." * William Blackburn's character, Hadley, is given his name in this episode. Props and settings * The street seen throughout this episode is on the Paramount lot and can be seen in many television series. The steps leading up to Okmyx's headquarters were used in the series . * The car that Kirk drove to "put the bag on Krako" had a V-12 engine, as a V-12 emblem is seen on the radiator. It was a Cadillac, probably a 1931 model. txt/Phocad31.htm Note the winged radiator cap, which Cadillacs of that vintage had. Incidentally, this represents the only time that a member of the crew ever operated any kind of land vehicle during the course of the original series. * In the Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook (pg 133), a book on the costumes and art direction of the original series, Herb Solow shows a yellow costume for "Marlys" that he says no one can identify. It is, in fact, the costume Marlys Burdette wore in this episode. Revivals * Bantam Books published a series of novelizations called ''Star Trek'' Fotonovels which took photographic stills from actual episodes and arranged word balloons and text over them, to create a comic book formatted story. The eighth installment was an adaptation of this episode which contained a foreword written by Anthony Caruso in the character of Bela Okmyx. He mentions that he was elected president of the planet in a landslide and that he made Jojo Krako his vice president. The arrangement worked out well, he said, as he hadn't heard from Krako since. * Before it was decided they would focus on the events of , the Deep Space Nine writing staff toyed with the idea of the DS9 crew visiting Sigma Iotia II and finding they had all imitated the Enterprise crew and wore TOS-style uniforms. This was to be both a comedy and a social commentary on the Trekkie phenomenon; however, it was agreed that revisiting the famous "The Trouble with Tribbles" would be more memorable. The original idea was followed up in the final issue of the Star Trek Unlimited comic book series, "A Piece of Reaction", instead. * According to the production report for the Star Trek Enterprise episode , that episode explored a premise hinted at in this episode when Dr. McCoy confessed to leaving behind his communicator on Sigma Iotia II. "The Communicator" picked up on this idea, with a far more serious tone, after Lt. Reed loses his communicator on a pre-warp planet, but he and Archer go back to retrieve it, but things do not go well. http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/331.html Remastered information The remastered version of "A Piece of the Action" aired in many North American markets during the weekend of . While the episode required very few new effects, the planet Sigma Iotia II was given a CGI-makeover, now a more Earth-like planet. Aside from orbital establishing shots, new phaser effects were created depicting the block-wide stun implemented from the Enterprise, replacing the more "cartoonish" aspects of the original. Image:Sigma Iotia II.jpg|The original Sigma Iotia II Image:Sigma Iotia II remastered.jpg|...and its remastered counterpart. Image:Constitution class phasers on stun.jpg|Original phaser effect... Image:Constitution class phasers on stun, remastered.jpg|...and its remastered counterpart. :The next remastered episode to air was . Video and DVD releases * Original US Betamax release: . * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 26, catalogue number VHR 2361, . * US VHS release: . * UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 2.7, . * Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 25, . * As part of the TOS Season 2 DVD collection. * As part of the TOS-R Season 2 DVD collection. Links and references Starring * William Shatner as Capt. Kirk Also starring * Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock :And: * DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Guest star * Anthony Caruso as Bela Co-starring * Vic Tayback as Krako * Lee Delano as Kalo * James Doohan as Scott * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Walter Koenig as Chekov Featuring * John Harmon as Tepo * Sheldon Collins as the tough kid * Dyanne Thorne as the first girl * Sharyn Hillyer as the second girl * Buddy Garion as Hood :And: * Steven Marlo as Zabo Uncredited co-stars * William Blackburn as Hadley * Marlys Burdette as Krako's gun moll * Frank da Vinci as Brent * James Doohan as the radio announcer * Roger Holloway as Roger Lemli * Jay Jones as Mirt * Jeannie Malone as Yeoman * Eddie Paskey as Leslie * Unknown performers as: ** Bela's gun moll ** Disc jockey ** Gunmen phasered ** Iotian Bosses ** Krako' headquarters guard ** Warehouse gunmen ** Lewis ** Bensen References 1992; advisor; anarchy; amplitude modulation; Beta Antares IV; Beta Antares IV natives; Bang Bang; Bible; billiards; boss; businessman; cement; Chamey's Auto Repair; Chicago; Chicago Mobs of the Twenties; chopper; Cirl the Knife; clutch; communicator; concrete; contract; conventional radio; cue; distill; Economy Bus Lines; Federation of Planets; firearm; fireplug; fizzbin; flivver; foot; gear; galoshes; government; hearse; heater; Horizon; ice cream; ignition; industrialization; Iotians; Jailbreakers, The; kronk; laundry; lieutenant; neutronium; moral inversion; non-interference directive; odds; overshoe; patty-cake; peanut; percentage; penny; percentages; petrify; phaser; phaser bank; piecework factory; planetary treasury; playing card; postage; punk; radio set; radio station; Request Time; right of petition; sawbones; shralk; Sigma Iotia II; Sigma Iotia system; sociological computers; Starfleet Command; starter; stone; streetlight; subspace radio; syndicate; taxi; taxi driver; telephone; territory; textbook; transporter; transtator; Tuesday; wax External link * * |next= |lastair= |nextair= |lastair_remastered= |nextair_remastered= }} de:Epigonen es:A Piece of the Action fr:A Piece of the Action ja:TOS:宇宙犯罪シンジケート nl:A Piece of the Action pl:A Piece of the Action Piece of the Action, A